Cold Noodles With Chile Oil and Citrusy Cabbage

Sounds wonderful. But let's get real. With about 20 ingredients to assemble, measure (or approximate), and process for the "anchor," this hardly seems like a dish that's going to get us out of the kitchen. And those "few other things to set out" need to be warmed, chopped or toasted. Note also, lemon or lime juice and zest are used in each step of the recipe. The recipe or a head note should state the total amount needed so that one doesn't have to juice citrus repeatedly.

I’m not sure how many people you had helping you, but including prep this recipe took me 2 hours.

In defense of this recipe, and yes, it took me 35 mins. Folks need to know that it is best made as a "clean the fridge" meal. Use the leftover udon noodles you made for ramen from a previous meal. Add in the pre-cooked veggie or chicken from the night before. And then be okay that you are spending your time creating sauces and condiments that bring it all together.

Made this tonite. Rave reviews. Took me a couple of hours to get it all together, but maybe I am just slow. I didn’t put the full amount of pepper flakes into the spiced oil because there are a few children in our family. A couple of us added chile oil (not the spiced oil in step one)to our own serving to amp up the heat. The prep did create a lot of dishes to wash, but that’s my husband’s job. As a matter of fact, I can hear him sighing very loudly as I write this.!

I love this. No, it was not simple to put together stepwise, but it was not time-consuming. I timed myself and it took one hour (not rushing). I thought the rich noodles with the sharp crunchy cabbage and the salty scallions was great. I added bok choy that had been sautéed with some garlic to my noodles. I’ll make this again

To everyone who commented on the chile oil -- yes, we all know it's a condiment that is purchased in the store. Thank you. If you read the recipe, however, no "chile oil" is mentioned, neither in the list of ingredients nor in the cooking steps. Also, in step 1, we heat one-half cup of oil with a number of fragrant and spicy items, including Sichuan peppercorns and pepper flakes. Hence, chile oil. Unless you want to just throw it away.

MollyT: I did strain the seeds from my chile oil because the garlic was getting too brown and I was worried about it tainting the oil. The strained oil is still very flavorful. I'll miss the crunch of the seeds, though. Other comments: 1) when it says "thinly sliced" cabbage, the thinner the better. 2) Don't skip the lemony scallions. They add a lot.

This did take quite a while to prepare but it was totally worth it. I added some shredded chicken that I had left over—delicious. And the kicker? It was even better for lunch the next day. I will make this again.

When the recipe mentions "chile oil" I assume it refers to the oil that was used to toast the fennel, garlic, star anise, and Sichuan peppercorns in earlier. Strain out the garlic and spices, or leave them in?

Such a brilliant, relieving approach to hoasting! I used sesame oil instead of olive on the cabbage. It has a more bold flavor, especially for those who skip the tahini sauce.

This is extremely delicious, but certainly not a quick meal. I did have some leftover lemony cabbage and spicy fried chicken to add, but used about every pot and bowl in my house to make the rest of the meal. Everything is simple to make, but didn't save me any time in the kitchen. Superbly delicious and flavorful, however.

I used Lang Zhou noodles I picked up in the fresh noodle aisle at JMart in Flushing and they were sublime. This is very easy to make, but too time consuming for a regular weeknight. Thankfully, you don't need to make it all. Make the noodles and the scallions and you'll be set. If you have another 10 minutes, make the tahini sauce and blanche some broccoli. The cabbage was good, but not necessary. The noodles are great on day 2.

The noodles are good but watch out--if you use all of the seasoned chilli oil on them they will be plenty spicy!

Use vegetable noodles and stead of flour noodles

Loved. Skipped Szechuan pepper, star anise, zests (will try another time). Made the cabbage first so it had some time to release in the vinegar + citrus. Then set chicken breasts to poach (started out per Melissa Clark's recent recipe; finished on the stove). Boiled water. Blanched baby broccoli, removed, brought back to boil, put in noodles. Made scallions and tahini sauce while noodles cooked. Whole process took somewhere between 40 min and an hour. Didn't have dish issue others mentioned.